Derwick Associates

In this page I will be linking to posts, other material and translations relevant to a crowd-source, investigative project about Derwick Associates. Ultimas Noticias journalist Cesar Batiz in Caracas is collaborating.

Derwick Associates: Exhibit X of Venezuela's Corrupt Criminals

London 03/10/2012 | There was a time, when Venezuelan thugs caught in the act used to recourse to a form of intimidation that had no legs to stand on: paid advertisement in regime-aligned media. I remember with particular fondness, how a couple of such small time crooks from one 'North American Opinion Research' pollster, Julio Makarem and Ricardo Valbuena, decided that the best way of dealing with publication of their dubious track record was to appeal to Hugo Chavez and his regime's authorities to open an investigation about me and other bloggers, who had either contributed to investigations about their dodgy affairs or had echoed our findings. Needless to say that, most unfortunately for Makarem and Valbuena, no investigation was launched and their reputations were laid to waste forevermore. ReadMore >>

Derwick Associates & FTI Consulting [updated]

London 16.10.2012 - Today, at 6:30 pm, I received a very odd phone call. A lady with a very thick American accent called to ask if she could talk to the director of Just Good Wine (an online wine retailer that I run), for she was interested in buying wine and champagne. I said I was the director, and she started with this bullshit story about a leaflet from Just Good Wine that she got sometime in a visit to the UK, and she wanted to know whether I could send her some wine over to the US. That put me on guard. After hearing that I could upon receiving from her an indication of how much wine she would be purchasing, she said she would be interested in buying a couple of bottles. As the conversation went on, I realised the play and decided to go with it, rather than hanging up. I asked her where she had gotten my number from, she said from LinkedIn. She asked if we sold African wines, and then asked if I had a store, or an office, where she could go to, or send me some mail. Read More >>

Derwick Associates & ProEnergy Services

London 16.10.2012 - Further to my two previous posts about Derwick Associates (see here, and here) I sent my last to a few sources in Venezuela, one of which pointed me in a rather interesting direction. It would appear that after all FTI Consulting is going to make a killing with Derwick Associates, if indeed they are involved. Read More >>

Hugo Chavez using proxies to prosecute critics in US Courts

London 19.11.2011 - Imagine a rock solid, private bank, led by a reputed and prudent banker. While much of our world is yet to come out of a financial crisis caused by irresponsible bankers, who were ultimately bailed out at huge cost to taxpayers, there's this guy in Venezuela, trying to avoid a government-led raid on his bank's funds. His name is Oscar Garcia Mendoza, the bank he directs Banco Venezolano de Crédito (BVC), and the assault he's trying to fend unprecedented. Since 2011, Venezuela's Central Bank has been lowering reserves requirement (or liquidity ratio). The aim is to free cash held with the Central Bank, so that private banks can in turn purchase government bonds issued to fund housing projects (Misión Vivienda). In four separate issues since 2011, the Chavez regime has raised in excess of $9 billion from Venezuela's private banks. So far, so capitalist, right? Not quite, financial institutions that refuse to risk it with Chavez bonds are effectively penalised by an unexplainable increase in liquidity ratio. Read More >>

Is the Bank of Spain laundering Derwick Associates' money?

London 26.11.2012 - The "unacceptable face of capitalism", otherwise reported as involvement of some of the world's "most reputed" private financial institutions in money laundering, and aiding and abetting with terrorists, is shocking enough. But what if I were to give an example where boardroom greed is not part of the equation? What if I were to show that a Central Bank, of one European country, neglected its anti-money-laundering responsibilities, by clearing ill-gotten proceeds from extremely dubious characters starring in corruption rackets? What if I were to show that judicial authorities have disregarded anti-money-laundering legislation? Hard to believe? Think again. Read More >>

Whatever happened to CVG's $500-million held in Gazprombank?

London 01.12.12 - The image on the right is the first page, of what sources alleged to be a two-page fax, sent by Alejandro Betancourt to buyers of steelmaker Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG). Its contents are quite self explanatory: date (Sep 04 09), time (06:36pm), name of sender (Alejandro Betancourt), fax number from where it was sent (58-212-9777399), and instructions to buyers to pay / transfer into a Gazprombank account.

How not to counter criticism: the Derwick Associates case

LONDON —. It has become standard in the Western world to expect to find information about everyone and everything via the internet. Individuals and corporations alike consult search engines to form an impression of potential friends, hires, business partners, or supported candidates. Prominent negative information t can cost jobs, deals, marriages, and lawsuits. Some persons and firms invest in expensive online reputation management campaigns, as partial recognition of this fact. Read More >>

Hugo Chavez’s corrupt cronies find GOP friends

A prominent Washington conservative’s law firm is representing a shady Venezuelan company that has close ties to the Chavez regime, meanwhile top conservative news sites self-censor this article. Read More>>

What do Derwick Associates and Ricardo Fernandez Barrueco have in common? Al Cardenas and FTI Consulting

London | According to reports from The Miami Herald, on Friday, October 17 2008, at 10 a.m., 15 shots were fired at a woman while driving in Carrasquilla, Panama City. Eight shots hit the woman, one bullet entering her temple and exiting through her eyelid, causing permanent left-eye blindness. The woman, miraculously, survived. Read More>>

The Miami Herald v Derwick Associates

London - Well, well. At last, a major publication in the U.S. of A has echoed the catalogue of reports I have posted in this blog denouncing rampant corruption, and money laundering by a handful of Venezuelan thugs, and their American partners. Today, The Miami Herald published a piece by Otto Reich, former Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Ezequiel Vazquez-Ger, about, guess who? Derwick Associates. Reich and Vazquez-Ger were careful of not mentioning any names, explicitly, so that possible letters to The Miami Herald byattack-lawyer Hector Torres will not impede publication, but all necessary references are there. Read More>>

Alek Boyd created Vcrisis.com and started blogging about Venezuela in Oct. 2002. Since, he has worked as an independent researcher, reporter, lobbyist, civil and political rights activist, and has experience in strategic and media consulting throughout Latin America. In 2006, Alek became the first blogger ever to shadow a presidential candidate in Venezuela. In 2009 he gained a MA (merits) in Spanish American Studies (King's College London). Alek can be contracted to do due diligence on individuals and companies in Venezuela and LatAm. Contact: @alekboyd, or alek dot boyd at gmail dot com.

Most of the investigations I've published in the last 10 years are related to individuals and companies with suspect connections to Hugo Chavez's regime, whose actions would've gone unnoticed otherwise. Exposing the $2-trillion dictator is no easy task, and so donations are always welcome.